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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty

O God our Creator,
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit,you call us to live out our faith in the midst of
the world,bringing the light and the saving truth of the
Gospelto every corner of society.

We ask you to bless usin our vigilance for the gift of religious
liberty.Give us the strength of mind and heartto readily defend our freedoms when they are
threatened;give us courage in making our voices heardon behalf of the rights of your Churchand the freedom of conscience of all people of
faith.

Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father,a clear and united voice to all your sons and
daughtersgathered in your Churchin this decisive hour in the history of our
nation,so that, with every trial withstoodand every danger overcome—for the sake of our children, our grandchildren,and all who come after us—this great land will always be "one nation, under
God,indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Saturday, June 23, 2012

On the first day of summer (at least according to the calendar), a Sister was going for a walk in our garden at mid-day. Walking along the Rosary path under the acacia trees and looking across an empty field, she thought she saw a very large bird. It seemed to have a long neck, a small head, a large body, and rather long legs. She watched for a while as it seemed to stand rather still with only its feathers moving in the slight breeze. Since the "thing" didn’t really appear to move, she finally convinced herself that she was seeing the top of a water faucet (which stands about 2 feet above the ground), with a bunch of dry weeds below it. So she moved on intent on getting back to the house in time for the next exercise.

But as she rounded the path and circled back in the other direction, the ‘water faucet’ moved. And then the ‘pipe’ on which it was fastened bent down to the ground and back up again. She rushed back to the house and summoned another Sister with a camera, which proved that this was not just a warm day’s hazy vision. It turned out to be a beautiful Blue Heron who probably considered our garden to be a rest stop on his way to the pond at the nearby Civic Center.

Another unexpected visitor in our enclosed cloister garden was a little squirrel who somehow got over the roof and down into the garden which is enclosed by four wings of the building. The poor little thing was scared and could not figure how to get back out to the trees he loves. He would work his way between the window and the screen, probably hoping to get through the window, but that would only lead him into the house.

So we put out a squirrel cage, bated it with a peanut butter sandwich and some nuts, and left him in peace to find the food. It did not take long, and soon he was sitting on top of the cage trying to figure how to get in to the food. Before long the smart little guy found the door to the cage, went in to have lunch and the door closed behind him. Then we took him out to the big open garden and set him free. He was delighted with his relocation and immediately ran up one of the big oak trees to have a happy reunion with his family.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Last Sunday we celebrated our feast day - the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. We were blessed to have so many of our friends and family from the surrounding community, and so many of our dear brothers in St. Dominic, join us in celebration! The chapel was beautifully decorated with lilies donated by a benefactor.

Many thank you's to our friends, families, benefactors, and dear friars who, by sharing the day with us and giving time, treasure, talent and shared fellowship, made it that much more joy-filled and beautiful. Deo gratias!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Congratulations to our Broher, Fr Emmanuel Taylor, OP, on his ordination to the priesthood on May 26, 2012. We pray that he will be a holy priest and another Christ ministering to His people in the church.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

A few months ago there was a meeting in Rome of the International Commission of Nuns of the Order of Preachers with the Dominican Sisters International. In their conversations it was suggested that each year on the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (May 31), the Sisters engaged in the active apostolate visit with the cloistered Nuns in their area.

And so, this year on the Feast, the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose in Fremont journeyed to Menlo Park for an afternoon of interesting conversation on the ministries and background of each Sister. Sister Carmel Marie, Sr. Patricia, Sr. Evelyn, Sr. Carolyn, and Sr. Rose each told us about how she came to Dominican life and about her experiences in the ministry.

The ice cream and cookies which they brought were enjoyed by all and stimulated much delightful laughter and response from the Nuns. We deepened our bonds of fraternal relationship in the Dominican Family and hope to continue the new friendships in the Lord.

About Me

The friars, sisters, and laity of the Order are to preach the name of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world; the nuns are to seek, ponder, and call upon him in solitude so that the word proceeding from the mouth of God may not return to him empty but may accomplish those things for which it was sent.
-Fundamental Constitution of the Nuns.-